Under seat automobile heater



Feb. 3, 1942. H. J. FINDLEYv 2,272,046

UNDER SEAV'Il AUTOMOBILE HEATER Filed Aprils, 1940v J3 Za 7:92,

ATTORNEY.

/ www?? @War 77 e Patented Feb. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES PAT UNDER sEArAU'roMoBlLE HEATERy Howard J. Findlay, Shaker Heights, Ohio., assign- 'yor to Eaton Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, l1io,a corporation of Ohiof y' Application April 3, 1940, semina. 321,603

' a claims. `(ci. ss-z) This invention relates to automobile heaters` ingeneral and more particularly concerns a heater of. improvedconstruction and `arrangement for placement under the limited spacebeneath the front and/or rear seat of the 'vehicle body and whereby amore satisfactory distribution of the heated air is obtained.

Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of anautomobile heater of a novel form' and construction ksuch that vit canbe installed under the seat in quarters so limited that the air inlet inthe top wall of the heater casing is practically in contact with thelower face of the overlying seat and still supply adequate amounts ofheatedair directly to the front and rear compartments of the automobile;the provision in an automobile yunder-seat heater as above described,lin ,which the top wall of .the heater casing has a depressed orchanneled section extending transversely of the vehicle between the sideWalls of the heater including a central axially disposed aperturetherein and in conjunction with the underside of thepoverlying seatforms an air inlet passage.

.Other objects' of the invention include the provision of an improvedconstruction for an under-seat automobile heater as above described inwhich heat-exchange cores of diii'erent size or heating capacity arearranged so that streams of heated air of diierent volumes or heat,content can be directed to different portions of the automobile, and inwhich one pair of side walls ofthe heater casing are provided with largeand small openings adjacent whichl are placedi the respective sizes'ofheat-exchange cores, and including fan means actuated `by a drivingmeans disposed at anA angle between said'heat-,e'xchange cores ofunequal size so asto force the larger quantity of air through the coreof greatest heatingcapacity.

Further and other objects of the invention may be brieiiy summarized asconsisting in certain novel combinations and arrangements of partshereinafter described when considered in conjunction with the drawingforming ra part of this specification and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. 1 Y

Inthe drawing like reference characters de` note'similar'partsthroughout the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1/ is a partial vertical longitudinal section taken through anunder-seat heater embodying the -improved construction taught by thisinvention and showing the front yseat o f a vehicle overlying the topwall thereof; and

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the heater `with portions thereof brokenaway. l *y n In the accompanyingdrawing, to which more detailedreference will presently be made, there isshown an improved constructionfor an auto- Although in describing the improved constructions detailedreference will be made to the specific construction shown in thedrawing, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is notlimited to the vparticular heater arrangement herein disclosed, butincludes various other constructions arrangements coming within thescope ofthe appended claims. It isvto bek further understood that acooling orgrefrige'rated medium may be passedy through 'the heat-'exlchange cores within the casing, in' this event air passed therethroughwill be tempered'rather than heated', andA accordingly, the scope of theVappended claims are construed to cover the operation of the unit forair cooling as well as heating.

In Fig. `1 of the drawing, there is shown a verticalflongitudinalsection through a portion of the floor 5 of an automobile, with thefront seat' 6 thereof shown in' broken lines spaced above the oor, asis'usual in presentv day automobile construction. As is well known topersons skilled in this art, considerable difhculty has heretofore beenexperiencedv in getting a satisfactory distribution of heated air toboth the front and rear compartments of an automobile having thisgeneral arrangement. 'I'his difficulty visV overcome, as will beexplained morey in detail hereinafter, by providing a heater generallydesignated l of the under-seat type and locating the same beneath A thefront seat 6 so to deliver heated air in two 'separate streams directlytothe front and rear t l compartments. A heater yof 4the same generaltype as above described is covered in applicant's heater casing and theunderside of the seat, in

mobile heater particularly of the under-'seat type.

order ,for the air to be heated vto flow totheintake opening throughthis space. In other cases,v Where lthe top wall of the heaterl casingwas in contact with the underside ofthe seat,*it wasv necessary that theair tol beheated' through the cloth or fabric covering the frontseat-before being drawn intothe heater 'casingby'l the fan. Aty thepresent time, ofcourse, the'iirst condition where there is 'suiiicientclearance' betweenthe top wall of the heater casing andthe underside ofthe seat is still suitable furthe-heater disclosed in applicantsco-pending application or the un-v der-'seat heater ofthe presentapplication; but. in the second condition where thetop'wall of the nheater Lcasing is substantially in contact 'with the underside oftheseat; l it is not now-'practicalto rely upon the porosity otytheclotli"or'fa'bric covering-the front seat because "inv theaforementioned instance Awhile onlyi a certain 'amount' of cottonpack'ingor kapok'coveredthe'tops of the seat spring coils, which had asuiilcient degree A of porosity, now the trend is toward apreformedlatex or sponge rubber blanket or pad which forms the backing or cushionbetween the seat springs andthe outer trim or upholstery, and which doesnot have the necessary porosity to admit passage of air therethrough.Accordingly, the present under-seat type heater has a depressed sectionor transversely extending channel in the top wall of the heater casingto ail'ord a 'free and adequate passage to the air to be heated, evenwhen the upper wall of the heater casing is in contact with theunderside oi' the seat.

The heater 1 may comprise a casing or shell I0 having heat-exchangecores Il and I2 therein and an air-impelling means I2 for causing air tobe heated to flow through the cores and to be delivered in separatestreams directly to the front and rear compartments through the spaceddischarge openings Il and I5. The casing Ill may be a hollow sheet metalstructure formed of one or more parts and oi generally quadrangularshape. As here shown the casing may comprise top and bottom walls I6 andl1, a pair of spaced side walls I8, and a pair of spaced end walls I9and 20. Also in the present instance the end walls Il and 2li have beenfolded up into substantially a horizontal position to form hoodedsections 2| and 22 which keep the heated air discharged from the heatercasing I close to the floor level and conduct the same out from underthe overhang of the seat 6, whereby there is no opportunity for the airdelivery to form eddy currents beneath the seat and diminish the totaloutput to the front and rear compartments of the vehicle.

It is usually desirable to supply a largeramount of heat, or volume ofheated air, to the front compartment of an automobile thanto the rearcompartment and, as will be presently seen, the novel form andconstruction of this heater provides this desired relative distributionand also enables the heater to be readily installed under the frontseat. There are various reasons for providing this relative distributionof heated air, among which is the fact that the forward motion of thevehicle usually causes cold air to enter the front compartment morereadily than it does the rear compartment. Another reason for initiallysupplying a larger volume of heated air to the front compartment, isthat the warm air usually gravitates from the front compartment to therear compartment by reason of the forward travel of the vehicle, thuslessening the volume of heated air which need be supplied to the rearcompartment for maintaining a comfortable temperature. Moreover, thefront compartment, being the driving compartment, is more frequentlyoccupied than the rear compartment, and this provides a further reasonfor supplying a larger volume of heated air to the front compartment.

In order that the heater 1 may be capable of supplying this desiredlarger volume of heated air to the front compartment, and may betterutilize the space available beneath the front seat I, the casing andheat-exchange cores of the heater are constructed so that streams ofvheated air of the desired relative size or heat content will besupplied to the front and rear compartments. To this end the casing II)is constructed with the end wall I9 thereof, which is adjacent to theiront edge of the seat 8 and nearest the iront compartment, relativelyhigher than the rear end wall 20 and make the discharge openo thedischarge openings ings Il and IB o! these end walls oi' correspondingrelatively large and small height or size. In the discharge openings Iland Il. there may be a series of spaced angularly' disposed defiectors24 and 2t which extend transversely from side to side of the heatercasing Il and at a suitable angle so as to dei'iect the air deliveryfrom the openings in' a desired direction dependent upon the location ofthe heater 1 under the front seat t. The top wall II oi' the casing orshell or the heater slopes downwardly as shown in Fig. 1. Theheat-exchange cores Il and I2 of large and small size. or heat-exchangecapacity, are arranged in spaced relation in the casing Il with thelarger core Il adjacent the larger discharge opening Il and the smallercore I2 adjacent the smaller discharge opening Il. With the relativearrangement and sizes for the heat-exchange cores and dischargeopenings. as Just described. it will be seen that separate streams oi'heated air will be delivered directly into the front and rearcompartment in front of and behind the seat l and that a greater amounto! heat or larger volume of heated air can be supplied to the. frontcompartment than to the rear.

To insure an adequate supply of air to be heated in the casing and toutilize to the best advantage the very limited space available under theseat of present day vehicles, the top wall I8 of the heater casing has alongitudinal groove or depressed channel 21 extending transversely ofthe heater so that, as in this instance, when the top wall o! the casingis abutting or closely adjacent the underside of the seat there is nopossibility of starving or shutting oi! the air intake of the airimpelier.

Air to be heated may be drawn in or supplied to the casing It at one ormore points. In this instance, the top wall I8 is provided with anintake opening 2l located in the channel 21 thereof centrally betweenthe heat-exchange cores II and I2 and in which the fan 29 of the airimpelling means I3 operates for drawing air into the casing anddischarging the same in two separate streams through the cores II and I2and I4 Aand Il adjacent thereto. The fan 2l may be mounted directly onthe shaft 30 of an electric motor 2l. This motor may be suitablysupported on the casing III at a point between the cores I9 and 20 and,in this instance, the bottom wall i1 has a bumpedup annular portion l2to position the i'an 28 at the right height in the intakeopening 2l. Themotor may be secured to this raised p0rtion 32 by suitable bolts u.

When the heater 1 is installed in the vehicle under the front'seat C itsbottom wall I1, which is substantially tlat except for the raisedannular portion 32 which forms the motor support, may rest directly onthe floor l of the automobile. When the heater is located in thisrelative position the top wall Il of the casing will extend in adjacentor abutting relation to the underside of theseat 8 asthecasemaybe. Ifthetopwallof the casingabuts the underside of the seat due to the limitedavailable free space thereunder, as it does in most vehicles, theltransversely extending channel or depressed section 21 affords anautomatic spacing or air inlet e to the intake opening 28 therein anddue to the entrances to the depressed section 21 being remotely locatedat opposite sides oi the heater casing insures an 4adequate circulationof heated air from the discharge openings Il and Il of the casing andnot a short circuiting of the air delivery direct to the intake opening.

It will be seen that the heater 1 can be easily installed in anautomobile because only one large hole 34 need be cut in the floor, orthe floor provided with a depression, to accommodate the depending motor3I secured to the raised support 32. Since access can be readily had tothe compartment iioor at the point where this hole is to be cut, thecutting may be done by means of a hole saw, and hence laborious andcostly installation operations can be avoided.

The heat-exchange cores II and I2 may be of the usual type ofconstruction, that is to say, they may be finned tube structures havingnumerous passages for the air to be heated and having end header tanksthereon. The header tanks of the core II are designated IIa and IIb andthe tanks of the core I2 are designated I2a and I2b.

Heating or cooling medium such as hot or cold `water taken from theengine cooling system may be circulated through the heat-exchange cores.

Il and I2 for tempering the air which is forced through the cores by thefan 29. Although the heating or cooling medium can be supplied to bothcores simultaneously, that is to say in parallel relation to each other,it is preferred to circulate the medium through the cores in series witheach other and with the hotter or cooler medium passing through smallercore I2 rst and then through the larger core II. This desired seriescirculation of the heat-exchange medium may be obtained by connectingthe header tanks IIb and I2b of the cores IIand I2 by the pipe 36 andconnecting supply and return pipes 31 and 38, respectively, to the tanksIIa and I2a of the cores II and I2. Thisseries circulation of theheat-exchange medium through the cores I I and I2 may be desirablebecause it causes the hotter or cooler medium to be supplied to the corehaving the smaller air-tempering capacity,r

in this instance the core I2 which tempers the` stream of air to besupplied to the rear compartand rear of the seat. 40'

tion and arrangement of under-seat heat-exchanger whereby an adequatesupply of air to be v tempered'is assured even when the top wall ofy theheater casing abuts the underside of the front seat. In addition, due tothe series hook-up of the heat-exchange cores, the combination of largeand small cores, and the inclination of the axis of the air impellingmeans` soas to favor the larger core, the desired proportioning korsatisfactory balance of tempered air will be supplied to the front andrear compartment of a vehicle.

While only one illustration has been shown embodying the constructionand arrangement for an automobile under-seat type heat-exchanger, itwill be understood, of course, that it is not intended'to be limited tothe precise construction and arrangement disclosed, but this inventionis regarded as including such changes and modi- 'cations in practice asdo not constitute adeparture from thespirit and substance of the inVvention as defined by the scope of the following claims.

What I claim isz' 1. A vehicle under-seat heat-exchanger casing lcomprising, a walled casing having a transversely extending depressedreturn air channel in its top Wall provided withanair inlet therein anda pair of spaced air delivery openings in front and rear walls thereof,said front and rear walls being of e high and low dimensions,respectively, said channelledtop wall joining said front and rear wallsbeing inclined with a slope rearwardly from the high front wall to thelow rear wall, anda fan means mounted in the casing adapted to move airthrough the inlet-opening in the depressed channel in the top wallthereof and .discharge air through the delivery openings in the frontand rear casing walls into the area adjacent the front 2. In a vehiclehaving spaced compartments divided by a seat elevated above the vehiclefloor an under-seat heat-exchanger vcasing comprisbe dissipated in thecore I2 for `delivery tothe.` rear compartment; and thus temperature andy heat-exchange content of the medium will still be relatively greatwhen it is supplied to the core I I for tempering the stream of airbeing delivered into the front compartments.

As an additional feature, the proportioning of air to be passed throughthe heat-exchange cores II and I2 is accomplished by arranging the airimpelling means with the axis of rotation of the fan in a relativelyinclined position so the fan will favor one heat-exchange core overvtheother. In Fig. l the air impelling means I3 is shown mounted with itsaxis of rotation in such a relatively inclined position so that the fan29 will favor the heat-exchange core I I, in this instance the largercore, and will tend to cause a larger volume of air to pass through thisheat-exchange core than would pass through the core if the axis ofrotation of the impelling means were vertical or normal to the plane ofthe bottom wall I1. As shown in Fig. 2. in which the fan 29 rotates inor adiacent the intake opening 28 in the depressed section 21 of the topAwall I6, the impelling means is disposed with its axis of rotationsubstantially normal to the plane thereof.

From the foregoing description and accompanying drawing, it will now bereadily seen that there has been provided an improved construcing, awalled body of geometricalv form having a depressed section in its'topwallwhich in conjunction with the overlying vehicle seat is arranged to'denea return air supply channel, an air inlet opening to the casinginterior in the central portion of the depressed section of the -topwall, said casing having a high front and low rear wall each providedwith an air delivery opening therein of .commensurate size, and said topwall joiningy the high and low .end walls being disposed on a rearwardlydeclining slope, and a fan means mounted in the casing adapted to moveair through the inlet opening in the depressed channel in the top wallthereof and discharge air through the delivery openings in thel outletopenings, and a fan means mounted in the chamber adapted to move airthrough the inlet opening in the depressed vchannel. in the top wallthereof and discharge air through lthe outlet openings in the endwallsfof the casing intofthe compartments adjacent the front and rear ofthe seat, respectively.

HOWARD J. FINDLEY.

